Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement Story Highlights

This year, Trinity’s Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement has been increasing its focus on food justice in Hartford. Students in Trinity Homelessness Project (THP) and the community service club JELLO have been revamping programs to support food security work in the community. Food recovery with the dining hall, the Backpack Nutrition Program with Hands On Hartford, and weekly volunteering at Place of Grace Food Pantry have seen renewed leadership and energy this year.

On the drizzly Monday before Thanksgiving, seven Trinity staff members loaded five cars full of 100 Thanksgiving meals and turkeys to deliver to two community partner locations. The 2021 Thanksgiving Drive, like every year, was a community effort. Students from the Annual Community Service Event Staff (ACES) coordinated with Director of Community Service and Civic Engagement Joe Barber to recruit donations; faculty, staff, and students from across campus donated; ACES students shopped and packed bags; and our community partners at the Expeditionary Learning Academy at Moylan School (ELAMS) and A Place of Grace Food Pantry distributed the meals to Hartford families.

Halloween on Vernon Street has been a beloved campus and community tradition since 1990. Each year, children from the Hartford community are invited to Vernon Street on Trinity’s campus for trick-or-treating, activities, and games hosted by the Greek-letter and cultural houses along the street. This year, around 200 children were hosted by over 100 Trinity students in an event coordinated by students in the Annual Community Service Event Staff (ACES). The energy around this year’s event reflected a long-term, pre-pandemic history. “It was a very well established event when I got here in 1996. Lots of kids knew about it,” says Joe Barber, Director of the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement.